Recipes – Page 7 – Stephfood CLONE

Daring Bennies of Destiny

The timing for this challenge could not have been better. I had already decided to make Eggs Benedict a personal challenge for the Winter, having never attempted Hollandaise sauce, and having never successfully poached an egg. It was destiny.

I am a fanatic when it comes to Eggs Benedict. I crave them. When I crave the Bennies, I get cranky when I don’t have one. I’ve posted about my love for Bennies before, and you can see that I enjoy many variations on the dish. In fact, I’ve only ever had “real” Eggs Benedict three times – and two of those times were just last weekend. My eating meat has been a recent development, and even still I tend to pick the meatless options instead.

In all of the years of eating various Bennies, I never really knew what Hollandaise was supposed to be like. Not to sound high on my cooking skills, but after going through the process of making it myself, I think I now know how it should be. I think mine was a little thin, but the flavour was right. And now I point my fingers at you, *namelessrestaurant*, who make salty, gloopy Hollandaise that tastes like chicken stock. Tsk, tsk, in your general direction.

The Hollandaise was tedious, but not difficult. I was so worried it would break, but it stayed together. If you haven’t had it before, it has a pretty delicate flavour with a light lemoniness. I added a few spices to mine, too, and thought they were a great addition. I was scared by the amount of butter required, but told myself that challenge recipes are worth adding that much butter to! Also, I probably could have halved the Hollandaise recipe.

The bigger scare came from the egg poaching. I had never been able to poach an egg before. My previous attempt, many years ago, resulted in a poached egg yolk with a thin layer of white around it. FAIL! This time, I made sure to get fresh eggs, looked up all sorts of tips and tricks and used the most scientific method in the book – I held my breath. That usually works, right? The eggs came out great. Once I got past that step, I was thrilled and assembled my stacks full of anticipation for the meal to come.

We love brunch.

I was really happy with the way these turned out. While I love to go out for brunch, there are times you just want to stay home and have a nice meal. It’s a great way to save money – and stay warm at home on a cold Winter day. I probably won’t make this every weekend, but I do plan to make them again. I think next time I’ll have to try making something like the crab Bennies we had at Dr. Generosity’s. Soooo good!

P.S. On an unrelated note, this is the 100th post on stephfood.com! I thought that when I got to this point, I’d make a post all about it, but I just have too many fun things to post about right now. I guess I’ll save the sentiment for the 1 year anniversary, at the end of January. Until then, let’s raise a glass of Hollandaise!

Blog-checking lines: Jenn and Jill have challenged The Daring Cooks to learn to perfect the technique of poaching an egg. They chose Eggs Benedict recipe from Alton Brown, Oeufs en Meurette from Cooking with Wine by Anne Willan, and Homemade Sundried Tomato & Pine Nut Seitan Sausages (poached) courtesy of Trudy of Veggie num num.

Recipe after the jump!

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Granola… Two Ways!

I’m not much of a breakfast person. Sure, I love brunch – but I’m talking about breakfast. You know, the food that you have to force down your throat first thing in the morning? No? Anyway, I never used to eat breakfast until I realized I need to eat all three meals in order to survive the day. There are two things I eat regularly: breakfast pitas; and yogurt with granola.

I’m a bit of a granola and yogurt fiend. I find store-bought granola to be expensive, and full of junk.

I’ve started on the path to making my own granola, full of things I like.

This time around, I wanted some variety so I made two different kinds of granola, instead of putting all of the ingredients into one big granola. It was a pretty good try, but I think I need some practise. The two kinds don’t taste different enough for me, so next time I’ll have to kick it up a bit. I also need to learn how to make better clumps of things – the smaller bits, like flax and chia, mostly fell to the bottom of the pan. It would be so much better if they stuck to some oats in clumps. I think adding some egg white to the mix will help with this.

Next time, I’ll try not to wuss out on the spices in the Spiced Pumpkin Cashew mix, and I think I’ll add some dried apricot. And maybe add some orange juice for a different flavour?

J says I’m a hippie, now that I make granola.

Recipes after the jump!

Continue reading Granola… Two Ways!

Sweet Potato Poutine with Mushroom Gravy

To end my little tour of Prince Edward county, I want to share a recipe that I cobbled together that was inspired by the spirit of the PEC.

This dish is made up of seasonal, local ingredients – the cheese actually migrated back to Toronto with us, from Black River Cheese Company in Prince Edward County.

The idea for the recipe came from a combination of two things: the fancy pants poutine we had in Wellington, and the fact that I had bought some cheese curds and couldn’t think of anything better to do with them than make poutine. Since I had never made poutine before, this was a perfect opportunity. J suggested we do sweet potato, to change things up a bit – and it was a fantastic suggestion.

A shameful admission from this proud Canadian girl, I haven’t really had much poutine in my life. Being a strict vegetarian for a good number of my adult years, I didn’t try poutine. To be honest, some of the poutines I saw weren’t even trying to change my mind – gloopy “gravy”, greasy fries and fake mozzarella doesn’t appeal to me. I guess it really isn’t that big of a surprise that it hasn’t been on my ‘to do’ list.

Not long ago, J and I went to a fun tapas restaurant that focused on local ingredients, and we tried a really good unusual poutine. So when we saw it on the menu in Wellington – another poutine that stretched the boundaries – we happily ordered it.

To be honest, I really should have tried to make it sooner.

Not to rain on anyone’s grease parade, but making poutine at home can actually be healthy. The most fattening thing in the whole dish is the oozy cheese – and it’s oozy melty goodness is used to its full advantage when layered this way. The sweet potato ‘fries’ are baked with a little bit of oil, and some smart seasoning, and the gravy is vegetarian with only a bit of oil and some milk to add to the fat content. Compare this to the usual “heart attack in a bowl” that is traditional poutine.

The verdict? It was amazing, if I do say so myself! The gravy was probably the biggest question mark, because I used a new recipe. I probably would use less milk next time – it tasted amazing, but am I wrong to think a milky coloured gravy just seems weird? It didn’t thicken as much as I thought – but it was thick enough for this, and not gloopy like you get when you thicken with corn starch.

Finally – I try making some Canadian food on this blog!!! It only took nearly a year!!

… and with this, I end my yammering about Prince Edward County (for a little while, anyway).

Continue reading Sweet Potato Poutine with Mushroom Gravy

Daring Soufflé

I’ve never made a soufflé before.

I knew it was something eggy, but I’m not really sure I had a concept of what one was. I just knew that they fell, and were complicated. I never ate one, I never tried to make one.

As a kid, my favourite birthday meal was home made lasagna and Black Forest cake. My girlfriend, on the other hand, loved cheese soufflé. I thought that was the funniest thing – what kid asks for cheese soufflé? Maybe it was just because I thought of soufflé as a snobby food, and not kid food. Obviously, different families eat different things.

So, yes, this is a great challenge for me. If you’ve never eaten something before, how do you know if you’ve made it right??

It’s hard to describe the texture… outside was a little bit crispy and nice, and inside was fluffy and soft. It’s almost like crossing scrambled eggs, a milkshake and crème brulée. Maybe.

Blog-checking lines: Dave and Linda from Monkeyshines in the Kitchen chose Soufflés as our November 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge! Dave and Linda provided two of their own delicious recipes plus a sinfully decadent chocolate soufflé recipe adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s recipe found at the BBC Good Food website.
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Herb and Spinach Bulgur Pilavı

There weren’t many dishes I ate that contained bulgur. Until recently, the only thing I could think to make was tabbouleh. Fair enough – tabbouleh is tasty!

Eating my way through Turkey, I realized that you could get bulgur in different sizes, in many stages between fine and coarse. The coarser bulgur was used much like rice, and bulgur pilaf was a common side for many dishes.

I bought a bag of coarse bulgur, ready to make some delicious pilaf… and it sat in the cupboard for almost a month. J finally dug in, and used some in a bread, and I decided I couldn’t let him show me up.

The basic bulgur pilaf is fairly plain, since it’s meant to be a side dish for more flavourful main items, like kebab and kofte. I used the recipe from the cookbook I bought in Turkey as a jumping off point, adding some spinach and lots of yummy herbs and spices. I also had to change the cooking instructions a little bit — this will vary depending on the coarseness of the bulgur you buy. There are many variations, and I’m not sure there’s a standard way that all brands differentiate between the varieties.

This is a great alternative to a rice side dish – it has a nice chewiness to it, and is fantastically tangy from the mix of tomato, fresh mint and sumac.

It’s also amazing as leftovers.

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Spooky Treats

It all started with the decision that I would make “Caramel Cod”.

Yes, I said Caramel Cod. If it doesn’t sound familiar to you, know that I didn’t come up with it on my own. I stole the idea from the Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror VIII“. What you may not realize – as I didn’t until I did a search – is that people haven’t been going crazy trying to make it. I am shocked. I have wanted to try a caramel cod since the first time I saw that episode.

OK, so I didn’t take a whole fish, put it on a stick and cover it in caramel. Instead, I tried to make something edible – and I think I succeeded! I cut the fish into chunks, coated it in breadcrumbs and cajun spices, seared the fish and then covered in freshly made caramel. It was a little bit sticky, sweet and spicy, and the fish was cooked perfectly.

I was pretty happy with myself, but I didn’t know it wouldn’t be a disaster, so it wasn’t the only thing I made.

We decided to have a ‘spread’ dinner, made up of veggies, dips, cheese, bread, and whatever else we feel like nibbling on. I made two special Hallowe’en-themed dips for the occasion.

The first is a Squeamish Squash dip, a blend of sweet squash and tingly spices. This is a great way to use up leftover squash, or even sweet potato.

The second is a spoooky Green Slime Dip. What’s so spooky about it? Your breath after you eat it — it’s full of garlic and onion!! This dip was inspired by the memory of a dip that my friend Mess and I made for a Hallowe’en party we had in high school. We made all sorts of spooky treats — the Green Slime dip, an ice hand in punch, and lots more!

You can’t have a spooky dinner without some spooky beer! We chose Maudite – the damned – made in Quebec by Unibroue.

According to the wikipedia page:

The label depicts the legend of the Chasse-galerie (the legend of the Flying Canoe). Legend has it that a group of Voyageurs struck a deal with the devil to fly home in their canoes, guided by Satan himself, to make it home in time for Christmas. One renounced the pledge mid-flight, and they all plummeted to the ground.

Yarrr. And that’s the story of the very first caramel cod – and other fun things.

All three recipes after the jump!

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Indian-Spiced Squash Soup

Where were you when the weather bomb hit? I was waiting for the crazy to arrive, but it seems to have changed its flight plans.

I didn’t even know ‘weather bomb’ was a real term until I looked it up. What does one eat during an impending (but never arriving) weather bomb? Squash soup, of course!

Over the years, I’ve made a few different squash soups, with varying degrees of success. Some turned out bland, while others were waaay too spicy. Most of the time, I go for something curried – I started with Thai spices, and ventured into Indian.

Along the way, I think I’ve developed a pretty good base for the soup – mostly squash, with some carrot to round out the flavour. Whether this is needed really depends on the squash you use… I add carrot all the time now, just because I like it. I also add Granny Smith apple to the blend, to give a hit of sweet and sour. Some of the recipes I found over the years called for sugar — by adding an apple or two, you can avoid that.

This time, I pulled some spices from my masala dabba and seared some paneer to give us something to chew on.

This is a nice toasty, warming soup that’s great on a cold and/or blustery day! Or Tuesday.

Recipe after the jump!

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Purple Cabbage Rolls

Every month, when the Daring Cooks’ Challenge entries are posted, I do my best to look at a number of the entries. I love to see the variation on the given theme, the creativity that people add to their interpretation, and of course I get inspiration!! This month was no exception.

One alternative to the challenge was to use a different leaf to wrap the rice – so there were quite a few people who chose to make cabbage rolls (either because they didn’t like grape leaves, couldn’t find grape leaves, or had mastered that recipe already and wanted a challenge). I realized that not only had I not attempted to make cabbage rolls before, but that I had never even EATEN cabbage rolls that weren’t based on the traditional Polish style that I was used to.

I had decided that some day, I would try to make cabbage rolls… eventually. That is, until I saw a post that used red cabbage. The colour was so compelling that I decided I would make some right away, and when I set eyes on a red cabbage at The Big Carrot, I decided to make some IMMEDIATELY. No joke. We were still deciding what to make for dinner the next night when I spotted it, turned to J and said “I could work on some cabbage rolls tonight and bake them up for dinner tomorrow”. Done.

One of the first things was to try and blanch the cabbage. Some recipes say to pull the leaves off first, some say to put the whole head in. I tried the first way — DISASTER!! The leaves ripped like mad. Blanching the whole thing was challenging, but a better option in the end.

The most hilarious part was the colour that came off of the cabbage. The boiling water turned a colour that bent from straight-up purple, to blue, to green as it poured. Of course, I managed to drip purple liquid all over the kitchen, and did my best to wipe it up immediately. I didn’t know if it would stain if I left it – reminded me of the days when my hair was purple, and I had to be careful not to get any of the coloured water on anything as it dripped from my head after a shower. Ahhh, memories.

That done, I prepared the filling, which was mostly comprised of rice, rehydrated TVP (but you can use ground meat, if you like), and some herbs, mushroom and spinach.

One thing it should have contained – but didn’t – is egg. It was on my list, it was in my instructions…. but I forgot. Honestly, it could have used it. When you make vegetarian rolls, you don’t have the benefit of meat to help hold things together. An egg in the mix would have helped with that, but luckily it didn’t cause any disasters.

Next. I set up to roll. I measured out a blob of filling, and basically used the same technique I used to roll the dolma – fold the bottom up tightly, tuck in the sides, continue to roll up and tuck in until you’re out of leaf. Since there was less leaf to work with than the dolma, I had to put them seam down on the tray. From there, I refrigerated the tray of rolls, with plans to assemble my baking dish the next morning.

I lined the bottom of the baking dish with a layer of thinly sliced tomato (to stop the rolls from sticking to the bottom, and to make a bit of a “sauce”), and a layer of thinly sliced leek. Next, I packed the cabbage rolls in pretty tightly, and studded them with halved garlic and button mushrooms. For the heck of it, I topped with sprigs of rosemary and covered with tin foil.

I baked them covered for 40 minutes, uncovered for another 10. I found that it wasn’t quite enough. I upped the temperature, and turned it to broil. Better – but still not as cooked as I probably would have liked it. I think I should have baked them covered at a slightly higher temp for at least an hour, then uncovered for at least 20 minutes. Good to know for next time (I’ve made the changes to the recipe below).

I would also salt & pepper the mixture more than I did. You don’t want to season it as though you will be eating the filling on it’s own – it needs to have a stronger taste. That was mistake #3.

Overall, I think it was a great first attempt. I didn’t go too crazy with the ingredients – I did want them to taste something like a cabbage roll, after all. I learned a few things (don’t forget the egg! bake longer! season more!). We had a great meal, that made great leftovers.

Unfortunately, my pic of the actual baked dish kinda sucks. Oh well!

Full recipe after the jump!

Continue reading Purple Cabbage Rolls

Back to Basics: How to cook dried Chick Peas

Cooking chick peas (garbanzo beans) from dried is easier than I thought! The trick is in the soaking – you need to soak them for at least 24 hours before cooking. I actually soak them for 2 days, and have such great results that I keep doing it that way.

One thing to keep in mind is that they expand quite a bit – my first try was with 2 cups of dried chick peas, which yielded about 6 cups of cooked chick peas. Yikes! These days, I do 1 cup at a time.

In a large bowl, add 4 cups of cool water to 1 cup of dried chick peas.
Put the bowl in the fridge for at least 24 hours to soak, changing the water every day.
Every once in a while, stir the chick peas around a bit.
To cook, boil a large pot of water. Add the chick peas, and return to the boil. Lower the heat, and simmer for about 40 minutes – but test to get the perfect texture!

The “Back to Basics” series is a collection of simple instructions, to be used as a reference for preparing some of the ingredients in the pantry. Mostly, it’s just a way for me to keep track of some of this info because I never remember the simple stuff!

Daring Dolmasi : Turkish Food Log Pt. 3

Zeytinyağlı Yaprak Dolmasi. Grape leaves stuffed with rice, spices, tomato, currants and cranberries.

Continue reading Daring Dolmasi : Turkish Food Log Pt. 3